The German tourist who was fatally struck in a hit-and-run by a minivan driver in Midtown was in New York City celebrating her wedding anniversary with her husband, who was also critically injured in the incident, her longtime friend told the Daily News.
Alexandra Sabine Lewalter Maric, 50, and her husband, 55, from Hamburg, Germany, were celebrating 23 years of marriage with a trip to the Big Apple. The couple started their visit by taking a cruise out of New York City on Virgin Voyages. But their dream trip ended in tragedy — just two days after their anniversary — in the gruesome accident right outside the 42nd St. public library.
“They flew to New York City and started the cruise there,” said Udo Meixner, 56, a journalist in Germany at Nordbayerischer Kurier and a friend of the victim since they were both teenagers. “And after the cruise, they wanted to stay in New York City for a couple of days. They wanted to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They married on Sept. 22, 2002.”
Lewalter Maric and her husband were in the crosswalk on E. 40th St. just west of Fifth Ave. around 2:40 p.m. Wednesday when a blue-gray minivan that was in the intersection reversed, pinning the couple against a box truck that was stopped at the red light behind them, police said.
Lewalter Maric was pronounced dead at the scene as stunned witnesses told The News that she was nearly decapitated in the street.
“We, her friends here in Germany are still shocked of course. It’s very hard to believe,” Meixner said. “This accident was so dumb and senseless…
Her husband, whose skull was fractured and was bleeding from his head and shoulder, was seen feebly reaching out to his dead wife as he lay sprawled on the asphalt, a mixed-nuts vendor who witnessed the bloody scene said.
“She was facedown on the ground, her head was squished, like, decapitated,” the vendor, 28, from Union City, NJ, said. “The guy was bleeding from the head and shoulder — he was reaching over to her but she was dead.”
“The lady was crossing with the guy. There was a car in the crosswalk. The light was yellow and [the driver] was stuck,” Rosa Paredes, 38, an NYC Ice Cream truck driver who lives in Queens, who also witnessed the terrible incident. “The truck came like he wanted to make the light, too. The minivan backed up — it was mucho rapido, they were sandwiched, crushed. They were on the ground. She died instantly. The blood sprayed everywhere. It was horrible.”
The husband was rushed by EMS to Bellevue Hospital, where he was treated for a skull fracture and was likely to survive, police said.
The minivan driver, Mohammed Abouzaid, 40, fled the scene before getting stuck in traffic at W. 38th St. and Eighth Ave., where he was taken into custody, cops said.
According to police, the minivan had a Mississippi license plate on its front end and a “Times Square” souvenir vanity plate on its rear.
Abouzaid, who lives in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx, on Thursday was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and two misdemeanor counts of failing to yield to a pedestrian with the right of way.
The top charge carries a potential sentence of up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. A judge granted a request by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office for $25,000 cash bail or $75,000 bond.
Abouzaid is due back in court on Sept. 30.
Meixner said Lewalter Maric was a music lover and had enjoyed going to concerts ever since they first met when they were 16. She grew up Selb, a town in Upper Franconia before later moving to Wurzburg and Cologne, according to Meixner. She worked at Apple in Hamburg.
“Alex was always cheerful and full of life — I never saw her have a bad day,” her friend said. “Whenever I traveled to Hamburg with my family, we met up and, of course, celebrated the good old days.”
Lewalter Maric and her husband met in Hamburg, he added.
“She was the nicest person you can imagine,” Meixner said.
